the big celebrities that the democrats roll out. >> eliot: i bet logical be clint eastwood. that's "viewpoint." stay tune to enter the w >> i'm jennifer granholm. tonight in the war room, well, that was interesting. the party of no turns into the party of i as i am in willing to tell lies. as in i'm already looking at 2016, as in i have a short memory. as in i do not pro what i breach. as in i -- i can't even go there. tell us, gop what happened to we as in we the people or is it all about you. >> all those in favor signify by saying aye. >> aye! >> i guess that answers that.

>> mitt romney's acceptance speech last night at the republican national convention he rolled out a new strategy to win over former obama voters. he said i know, you like him i know you were pied about him but don't you think it might be time to give someone else a try. listen. >> if you felt that excitement when you voted for barack obama shouldn't you feel that way now that he's president obama? [ applause ] you know there's something wrong with the kind of job he's done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him. [ laughter ] >> it's ok, obama voters, it's not you it's him. he let you down. it's ok to break up with him. it's the same message paul ryan

pushed in his convention speech wednesday. here's that one. >> college graduates should not have to live out their 20's in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at obama posters and wondering when they can get out and get going with life. >> if you're feeling left or or passed by, you have not failed. your leaders have failed you. >> speaking of failed leaders it appears that this new strategy to appeal to former obama voters was actually dreamed up by todd bush advisor karl rove. karl rove addressed about 70 of the party's wealthiest donors at the tampa club. according to a blackberg report, karl rove unveiled a strategy there that sounds remarkably similar to the one in romney's

speech saying: >> get it? so rove complained that he'd come to that conclusion. he explained that he'd come to that conclusion after his super pac did a huge amount of focus group research. that focus group research was funded by, who else? the koch brothers: >> he's hoping that those partners going to continue to pony up. former mississippi governor told funders at that same event:

>> of course! right? giving money to fight cancer is exactly the same as funding a candidate who wants to cut funding for scientific research on cancer. those donors have already funneled millions into rove's crossroads super pac and is using those funds to run this special, which has a very familiar sounding message. take a listen. >> yeah, i'm living with my parents again. i don't know, there's just no jobs out there. i've been doing this since graduation and i can't do it for four more years. >> i'm tired, i can't do it for four more years. wouldn't you know it, today on the campaign trail romney used a very similar line. take a listen. >> you're going to have to go out and find a person or two who voted for barack obama. i know they're here. all right? they're not as visible as they used to be. you can see some of the glue on the back of their bummer sticker

where it used to be. >> so we still think that these super pacs around coordinating with romney's campaign? here's the thing. after he spelled out how much he'd like to win over former obama voters and convince them that he's just a good reliable guy who should be given a chance romney did this, he mixed up the word country with another word. take a listen. >> paul ryan and i understand how the economy works, we understand how washington works. we will reach across the aisle and find good people who like us want to make sure this deals with its challenges. we'll get america back on track again. >> and just like that, did you catch it? the old mitt romney's back and i don't think that mitt romney's going to convince many former or obama voters that they should switch companies -- i mean parties. for more, we're going to turn to washington and democratic

strategist carl frish and michelle bernard. welcome back to both of you. >> thanks governor. carl, do you think that mitt's speech did anything last night to win over the target of former obama voters and what did you think of the speech? >> well, i think it was well written. it was poorly delivered. it was fun listening to pundits say this is the best speech mitt romney has ever given which is a remarkably low bar for mitt romney. so low even his grandkids couldn't go under it. it was nice to see him talk about his kids being curled up at the end of the foot of his bed and he longs for those times. it would be nice if he showed so much emotion and compassion for those families that have the kids at the end of the bed because they can't afford a bigger apartment. the policies that he articulated

are for his type of families, not those families. it range hollow for me. i give it a seven out of 10 for mitt romney, but normal candidates, that's a three or four. >> i'm curious about this strategy to appeal to obama voters. >> right. >> and let me ask michelle. do you think that that was successful? >> the speech that governor romney gave last night moved the ball forward in terms of showing the american public that he really is an actual human being. you know, he has this quality about him that is very aloof. he has been running for president for so many years now and so many people still say they don't know who mitt romney was. that's why the question was important for him. the speech, parts of it were compelling for mitt romney as the person that we know him to be. in terms of, you know, talking obama supporters into becoming romney supporters, i don't think that that has yet happened.

we didn't hear anything about policy. all we got to do was see that mitt romney is a family man. he is very much loved by his wife. he's very much loved by his children. the story that he gave last night about his father and the love that his father had for his mother and left her a rose every day and the way that she found out that her husband died was the day that she didn't receive the rose, all that was very compelling, but only to show us that he's a human being. it might not be enough to actually convince anyone to vote for romney, particularly obama supporters. there was the reagan democratic. i do not think we are going to see a lot of obama republicans. >> that was the favorite part of my speech. do you think michelle, again that he made a successful play for women voters? >> i don't know filled call it successful yet governor, but here's what i would tell you. it was very, i would tell you as a woman very, very compelling

to see his wife speak the way he did. it was compelling to see governor martinez, condi rice, they have achieved so much in their right, whether as a mother to the five boys and wife of the governor to becoming secretary of state what they taught us and showed us is that they were trying to reband the republican party to make us feel that the republican party is a place for women, that women have a home within the party. then again there has been so much damage done to the republican party's image and brand with women and people of color that over the next six weeks, they are going to have a very very difficult time proving particularly to single women that there is a home for them within the party. >> well, it's going to be interesting to see what the bounce is. karl there's a new poll out from reuters showing that president obama still leads romney in general favorability, 52-50%, but romney got a boost among independents after the convention on friday, 45% of

independents rated him favorably. that was compared with 34% just on thursday. so 11 points in that one night. do you think that's just a post convention bump? is it going to last just until next week, is it enough? >> i think it's good for him. interestingly, that poll showed that he didn't get a bounce overall. people may like him a little bit more, but that doesn't mean they're going to vote for hill. he's still lagging behind the president 52-48 overall on who people would pick if the election were held today. it's remarkable that in the first poll after the national convention that the nominee didn't get a bounce. that binges, i think he's going to have a tough couple weeks. it's only a matter of days before democrats remind people who paul ryan and mitt romney are. they suspended a lot of time trying to court women at that convention, and i have a feeling that we're going to hear plenty of people remind the american people that this ticket, paul

ryan doesn't support pay equity for women. you can work really hard to ever the same job as man but he doesn't think you should be able to sue if you're being paid less. you can put all the women in the world that you want that have done well with their lives on stage giving great speeches, but this comes down to policies. >> clearly the platform on women's reproductive rights is abysmal. he steered clear of other policy. there wasn't a single mention of social security, in his speech, romney's speech alone no mention of social security, of veterans of war of medicare, housing, immigration romney care afghanistan right so do you think that he decided that it was more important for him to present the romney likability stories rather than go after policy? >> absolutely, because well number one on policy, quite

frankly there are not a lot of differences in terms of what we have actually been told about where mitt romney stands on policy. there are not a lot of differences between mitt romney and barack obama with the exception of mitt romney wanting to repeal health care. also the american public wants to like their elected leaders. that let's face it. right now, when we look at members of the congress, their favorability and likability ratings are abysmally low. we want to like our elected leaders and no one knows who mitt romney is and quite frankly liking his wife is not enough to get him elected president of the united states. he had to start off where he did, which was reforming and slaining the damage that's been done to the republican party and letting us know who he is. without doing that, the next six weeks are unimportant to him. we expect to see a little bit of a burch. one of the things i wanted to add though was that the bump he received was coming before

barack obama speaks next week. barack obama is a fabulous speaker. he is a family man. people like his wife. people like his children. people like the fact that he is so supportive of women's rights in the workplace in addition to reproductive rights. i would guess that we're going to see whatever bump mitt romney got this week particularly among independents and women evaporate after the democratic convention next week. >> it will be interesting to see. karl romney also claimed at the beginning of his speech that republicans had united behind the president following his election. just take a quick listen. >> four years ago i know that many americans felt a fresh excitement about the possibilities of the new president. that choice was not the choice of our party but americans always come together after elections. >> he was clearly saying that his party had supported the president. what do you think he is trying to even do with that statement? >> well, the most important thing is the independents have been turned off by republicans over the last three years.

he was trying to show them he's not the members of congress that yelled you lie. he's not the members of congress that have said that from day one that their big goal is to keep him from having a second term. he's not the tea partyers with the racist signs. he's not any of these other crack pots in the republican party because they always wanted him to succeed. he's not rush limbaugh who wanted him to fail. the people in that room at that convention are those people. that is the republican party. it's to the point that there is no difference in policy, real difference. that's not. mitt romney basically advocated going to war with iran and russia last night. president obama is not going to take that pat path. there are differences in women's rights and minority rights and immigration, education. there is not an issue in this election that there is not a stark contrast between moving the country forward and taking us back to a time like when

george bush was president and that's not what the people of this country are going to vote for in november. >> good thing we've got a choice. i love choices. i love when the choices are so clear. karl and michelle, thanks for joining me inside the war room. coming up, what does picking the proper pro noun have to do with winning november's election? maybe everything. >> plus, americans are trying to deny other americans their right to vote. it is sad. it's outrageous and it has to be stopped. >> later, we'll give you the war room's take on the interview tweeted around the world. it's friday in the war room. we are just getting started. we will be right back. at the collision of tv and social media, providing unsurpassed insight into the and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage.

>>now that is politically direct. (vo) ...after the premiere of joy behar: say anything of sununu, you're wrong. mitt romney, you're wrong. we need more teachers, not fewer teachers and more cops and more firefighters that support our rich, chewy caramel rolled up in smooth milk chocolate. don't forget about that payroll meeting. rolo.get your smooth on. now in minis.

♪ welcome back into "the war room," i'm jennifer grandholm. now to my point. my mom used to tell me to watch out for guys with an eye

problem, not this kind of eye, but i, as in me myself and i, the ones who were selfish. those guys, she warned, were bad dates. i feel like i have just been on a week-long bad date with the republican party. david put into words what really had been bothering me. the republicans in tampa offered a vision of rampant hyper individualism. there was almost no talk of community and compassionate conservatism. well he was right, it was so intensely individualistic. in an era of movies about superheroes individually

concurring evil and with a big chunk of the gop professing love for the likes of ayn rand and others. this past week self gloer iffic indication trumped. the i conquered bewe. next week democrats have to boldly counter this anti-we zeal and nobody can speak to that better than barack obama. and i am so hoping asking you, mr. president, to please take the rhetoric back. heroism is its greatest when it is directed to saving all of us saving we not just i. mr. president, i like

superheroes as much as the next movie goer but to be super a hero cannot be selfish, we need a 21st century mario cuomo-like convention speech to rally us. we need to answer compassion not selfishness. we want you to remind us we're part of something bigger wart of that wagon train, that we're in a wagon that carries all of our american family to new ground. we don't leave the orphan because he is too small to contribute, we carry our broth we are a disability and our sister who is ill. that's who we are. that's what we do. we do celebrate individuals who overcome and we help to remove barriers for those still struggling on the journey.

so call us mr. president, call us to serve each other. please remind us of that nobility. take us to higher ground. make my soul sing. make our hearts full. talk about certainly your economic plans and your foreign policy achievements and domestic vision. but more importantly, please feed our hunger for a leader who asks us to give and not to take. in other words, sir, next week

as we know, communities of color are feeling this great recession more than others in fact, for communities of color, especially in the african american community, the great recession has before more like a great depression. >> jennifer: that's the great

california congress woman barbara lee joins addressing her floor. congress woman lee and cory booker are going to unveil the democratic party's platform. tonight we're so honored to well her congress woman lee here inside "the war room." welcome. >> pleasure to be here. >> jennifer: you have had such a big role in developing the platform when you contrast it with the republican party's platform, it seems like it was drafted by religious extremists is ours going to be more unifying? >> i think you are see the democratic party has set forth an agenda that first off recognizes the major accomplishments of the president. he saved the auto industry so

we in our platform set forth so much of what has been done. but also we set forth what the president's vision is for the future, and what democrats have for our vision for the future which is a future that speaks to the aspirations of all americans. >> jennifer: it's interesting to compare and contrast. their platform was so controversial that reince preibus said it didn't represent mitt romney's views. >> our platform represents the president's views, but also the values and morals that the american people expect all americans to represent. it's a platform that brings forth what has happened with the middle class but also what has hand and those who are aspiring to the middle class, and working to be in the middle class, what

their aspirations are also. it's a unifying document and agenda, because it has to unify the country, and believe you me it was not -- i would say as controversial as the republican platform is and was, but we made sure that we included the ideas and the aspirations of everyone all of the constituencies. >> jennifer: having -- having seen the action of a number of democratic party platforms, i know there is always some controversies, democrats, we are a brood -- big tent, so not everybody within the tent agrees one way or another. on the republican side they -- they clearly aced out certain constituencies like immigrants, et cetera from feeling included in their platform. however what they said on the floor of the convention seemed to contradict actually the

document they had. i'm assuming we're not going to have that. >> i don't think so. the democratic party is a big party, and we debate many many issues, but at the end of the day, we came up with a platform that reflects the american people. >> jennifer: were there any particular issues that were sensitive? >> there were many sensitive issues but we came to agreement around all of the issues. often there were those who had been struggling to become middle income middle class individuals, oftentimes we don't include them in our agenda or in our platform. well this was not contentious but i was part of the process that included the issues of so so many people so it became a very inclusive platform. and we heard the stories of so

many people. it was an open process. people came and testified to the drafting committee. this was in july. we heard stories from individuals who's jobs for instance had been saved as a result of the president saving the auto industry. we heard many many stories. >> jennifer: that's my favorite story, of course. having been in michigan when that happened. the -- the aspirational nature of a platform is a phenomenon thing for -- to lead people into a convention. you will be speaking on the first day of the convention to help unveil this i assume. >> i will be the first speaker. >> jennifer: okay. >> and we'll lay out the principals and values of the platform. >> jennifer: that's very exciting. i'm speaking on thursday night -- >> we'll be there. >> jennifer: but believe me i'll be covering all of this.

let's listen to a sound bite from mitt romney last night. >> romney: every president since the great depression who came before the american people asking for a second term could look bakt the last four years and say with satisfaction you are better off than you were four years ago, except jimmy carter. [ laughter ] >> romney: and except this president. [ cheers and applause ] >> jennifer: i know a lot of our base the democratic party base many of them have not felt as enthused as they were in 2008. how do we convince them? >> first of all we have a long way to go. we still have an unemployment rate that is off the scale, and the president has and will continue to work to bring down. but i see each and every day how the republicans have obstructed each and every bill that would really address job creation and the unemployment rate.

however, the economy is moving forward. woe have major investments in health care, and when you look at the fact that now just as an example -- young people can stay on their parent's health insurance until they are 26 years of age. when you look at the fact now women don't have to pay a higher price in terms of their premiums. being a woman is not a preexisting condition for example. when you look at many of the benefits achieved during -- as a result of the recovery act. the president saved hundreds of thousands of jobs through the recovery act. >> jennifer: absolutely. four years ago we were in the middle of a meltdown. 750,000 jobs a month were being lost. of course we are better off. are we where we want to be? of course not.

but four years ago we were imploding. >> it was very disenagainous. the president stopped the bleeding, and now the economy is turning around but let me tell you, mitch mcconnell said early on, their first priority was to make sure this president was a one-term president, and they have set forth each and every day to try to obstruct anything that would really turn the economy fully around and even with that we're making much much progress. >> jennifer: here she is chief eyewitness to the obstruction of the republicans. barbara lee is just a phenomenal representative of the oakland area. and thank you so much for coming in. and please come back. >> i will come back. and good to see you. all right.

next up finally some good news to push back on the republican's strategy to repress votes, and later, i'm generally hesitant about piling on to awkward moments, unfortunately our brett has no such qualms. >> coming up my so... [ gasps ] these are sandra's "homemade" yummy, scrumptious bars. hmm? maybe. rich chocolate chips... i just wanted you to eat more fiber. chewy, oatie, gooeyness... and, and...and then the awards started coming in, and i became addicted to the fame. topped with chocolaty drizzle... and fraudulence. i'm in deep, babe. you certainly are. [ male announcer ] fiber one. fiber beyond recognition.

the irs is going after political groups hiding behind the social welfare label.

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>> jennifer: earlier in the show i addressed president obama in my point. a lot of us wish we could talk to him every day, but leave it to clint eastwood to have an imaginary conversation with the president. listen up invisible obama, because shhhh, brett's talking now. >> after three long nights the republican national convention finally wrapped up in the home of the nhl tampa bay lightning, and the event was pretty much like hockey brutal and pretty much only white people liked it. let's talk and the elephant in the room. no not that one. this one. >> i have mr. obama sitting here and i just was going to ask him a couple of questions -- >> yeah clint eastwood talked

to an invisible president in a chair. it was weird. people in the arena seemed to like it. but people in the arena also wore this hat. >> i think i just drank clint eastwood's water. thank you. >> did you hear that speech because i don't think that's water. the internet exploded in its patented brand of joyful mockery. thousands and thousands of people started following invisible obama. one person reimagined sheperd berry's hope poster and a new photo theme erupted called eastwooding, where people just sold empty furniture. clint eastwood was just doing what everybody does at a convention shouting at the other guy even though he is not there to defend himself. i'm done talking now. are you coming? ♪

>> jennifer: thanks, brett. now i want to turn to political humorist will durst. welcome back into "the war room." did clint eastwood make your day too? >> oh, it was wonderful. i -- i loved it. i couldn't believe it. i called my wife in to watch. the poor guy he obviously woke up from a nap -- >> i know his hair. >> he had bed hair. and then he up staged the nominee's acceptance speech by losing an argument with an empty chair. and the best joke on the interweb was he went back to his hotel room and got in an altercation with his bed staff. [ laughter ] >> jennifer: it was a very bizarre moment. i have never seen anything like it. but of course the romney team wanted to use that whole thing last night to make romney appear human and less robotic. do you think it came across that

way? >> well he's tough. i mean he is stiffer than rick santorum on a gay pride parade float. >> jennifer: i don't even know what that means. >> i changed it from marcus bachmann. >> jennifer: oh, my gosh. >> but i thought ann did a great job. and chris christie followed her. and said it's not about love. it's about respect. >> jennifer: i know. i know. >> they did not sync up. >> jennifer: but what i thought was so interesting -- >> continuity. >> jennifer: chris christie says the word i 37 times, and mitt 7 times. what is up with that? >> me me me me.

he is trying to wedge himself into that just in case there is a november romney stumble stumblestumble -- >> jennifer: but don't you think that is 2016. >> yeah. and mario rubio, i thought he did a great job. >> jennifer: he did a nice job, but the wannabes for this time tim pawlenty et cetera, they were a little more low-key and bunched together on a night that actually saw ratings drop significantly. so who knows. one of the things that did come out of this is the issue about lying came out an awful lot. so romney campaign's pollster held this discussion and he said in it in describing his advice

that . . . and obviously that explains a lot about paul ryan's speech. are you bothered by the lying? >> facts? we don't need for stinking facts? ryan's speech almost everything in the speech was a distortion or an illusion -- the gm plant was closed in december of '08. he blamed obama for that. and the hindenberg that was obama too, and the fall of the roman empire no that was biden. >> jennifer: yes. next week what are you looking for in charlotte? >> the same thing only no hurricane. better dancing. i think there will be better dancing. >> jennifer: republican dancing shots were fantastic. listen, pick your foot up and show everybody what you are

wearing and talk about white shoes. but any way, will durst thank you so much for joining us. i have to call hypocrisy. right there, folks. mind out if clint eastwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtwtw (vo) this is joy. >>who the heck does mitt romney think he is? (vo) this is joy on current tv. >>if mitt romney treats his magic underwear the same way as his tax returns, then he's been going commando for the past 10 years.

jennifer speaks truth to power. >>the bottom line is we need an amendment. >>now it's your turn. connect with "the war room" jennifer granholm. >>it's a call to arms. make your voice heard. the president takes more vacations than the guy on the bizarre food show. and i'll give barack obama credit for creating jobs these last four years, for golf caddies. >> he thinks that if you started a business, quote, you didn't build that. well how would he know? president obama has never run a company. he hasn't even run a garage sale

or seen the inside of a lemonade stand. >> the only hitch in another wise perfect week was the awful noise coming from the hotel room next door to mine. turns out it was just debbie wasserman schultz practicing her speech for the democratic national convention next week. >> he hasn't been working to earn recollection. he has been working to earn a spot on the pga tour. >> jennifer: oh that of course is what happens when republicans try to be funny. we'll see if democrats can do better next tuesday night. current's coverage of the dnc ticks off at 7:00. we'll feature your tweets and what the rest of the political world is saying. thank you so much for joining us here in "the war room." have a great night. a wonderful and safe l